Nbc Rivals Want To Delay Fall Season

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CBS, ABC and Fox want to push back the start of the fall television season to avoid launching their new shows while NBC is presenting the Summer Olympics from Australia.

NBC disagrees.

The ratings-rich Olympics, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1, risk totally upending the first couple weeks of the fall season.

Traditionally, the broadcast networks kick off their new season during the third week of September and end in late May. But a delay until October would take NBC's Olympic coverage out of its seasonal ratings average and also save its competitors from having to use expensive original programming against it.

``That's a very tough few weeks to get started,'' Wendell Foster, ABC's executive director of programming planning, said of going against the Olympics. ``We want to delay our premieres until after the Olympics are over.''

From NBC's standpoint, the start of the season should not be determined by when the Olympics are scheduled (in 1996, the Summer Olympics were in August). And for that matter, no one complains when the Winter Olympics arrive during the February sweeps, or when the Super Bowl or Academy Awards shake up the Nielsen apple cart.

``At what point does the world become normal?'' said Alan Wurtzel, NBC's president of research and media development. ``There's no more typical year.''

The issue of when a season starts always has been a somewhat fluid point. There's no official start date; rather, the networks loosely agreed long ago that it would be the third week in September.

Nielsen Media Research, which keeps track of the ratings, always has gone by the networks' wishes. The company has traditionally maintained that it measures viewership 52 weeks a year.

At the heart of the dispute is who will have bragging rights as the No. 1 network at the end of the season. Often the network with Olympic coverage gets a sizable ratings boost, which props up its seasonal averages. The Games also provide a huge promotional platform to push upcoming shows.